ASU Women’s Hockey: Sun Devils face Colorado State in first home games of season

(Photo: Nicholas Badders/WCSN)

The Arizona State women’s hockey team has its home opener this weekend as the Sun Devils face off against Colorado State Rams for a two-game series. The women come back to Tempe after two long weeks of traveling, including a stretch of seven games in nine days and are looking forward to playing on their home ice for the first time this season. Game times are set for 7:30 p.m. on Friday night and 6:30 p.m. Saturday night at Oceanside Ice Arena.

“More than half the team hasn’t played a home game yet, so I know they’re going to be excited,” head coach Lindsey Ellis said. “Just bring the fire and the heat. We’re excited to be home.”

The Devils return home after most recently finishing a relatively successful weekend in Missouri as they hosted the Missouri Showcase. ASU won two of its three games, an 8-1 win against Concordia University Ann Arbor and a victory against Aquinas College, 3-1. ASU fell 5-0 in its last game of the showcase to McKendree, who was at the time ranked No. 2 in the ACHA Women’s Division I rankings and is currently ranked No.7 in the country.

“Everyone kept a positive attitude which is extremely important when playing these tough teams because it’s easy to just get in your head about it,” freshman forward Sydney Hancock said. “We stayed working as a team and if we take that into this weekend, it’ll be good.”

ASU has a strong history with Colorado State. In the first two matchups when the program began in 2016-17, the Devils were crushed in both games, being outscored 12-2. A year later, ASU beat Colorado State in both games of a two-game series. Those final scores were 4-3 in overtime and 2-1.

“We know CSU is a very physical team from what we’ve seen in previous years,” Ellis said. “We’re working a lot on zone entry, getting back in the [defensive] zone. Just things we’ve needed to improve on in previous games.”

This season provides a brand-new roster for the Devils, however. With the addition of many new players, ASU is not the same team they were from previous seasons.

“When [the roster] was really small, everyone was usually tired and we had to be on our game 100-percent of the time,” junior defenseman Alisa Manny said. “We were usually quiet in the locker room trying to be prepared and it was just a lot of mental game.”

Speaking of new players, three freshmen are currently leading the team in points. Forward Katharine Jones leads the team with eight points (six goals, two assists) along with forward Danielle Dupont, who also has eight points (four goals, four assists). Forward Amy Gulliksen has seven points (two goals, five assists) and the three make up ASU’s first line and are responsible for nearly half of the team’s total points so far.

“For them to come in as freshmen and have such a huge impact? That’s unbelievable,” Ellis said. “Especially to be on the first line, that’s a lot to put on a freshman coming right in.”

At the Missouri Showcase last weekend, Jones and Dupont received the showcase’s best offensive player and most valuable player, respectively.

ASU currently slots No. 14 in the ACHA Women’s Division I ranking and have continued to gain confidence week after week.

“They get better every single game and that’s all you can ask for as a coach,” Ellis said. “They get better every single game. Communication gets better, passing, scoring, everything keeps getting better.”

With mindsets of becoming the best, the goals for the team go beyond just wins and losses.

“We actually made a team banner that has goals for each game,” Hancock said. “We try to keep the other team under 10 shots each period – just little things like that. Of course we want to win, but there’s always little things that we’re working on.”

The Sun Devils will get the chance to work on these goals at Oceanside Ice Arena for the first time this season. There is anticipation circulating through the locker room and the players are ready for the team’s home debut.

“We’re representing ASU and our home rink. This is the first time we have a full team, we’re decent I guess, compared to the past years,” Manny said. “It’s a big deal to have our first home game with our first full roster.”

For freshman forward Abby Steinman, stepping onto ASU ice for the first time as a Devil is a dream turned into reality.

“Growing up, this rink was such a big deal coming and just playing with the team,” the desert native said. “Now you’re wearing the jersey that’s on the wall, it’s weird.”

Not only does this weekend the home opener, but Saturday will be a breast cancer awareness game and ASU will be showcasing their pink sweaters.

“To be representing such a big organization and something that is really important and close to my heart, it’s a big deal for me,” Manny said. “It’s bigger than ourselves.”

It’s women’s hockey season in Arizona and Manny has just one message: “Girls play hockey too, come watch.”